4 churches unite for Evans City cross walk
EVANS CITY — On a windy Good Friday outside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, four borough churches came together to bear a heavy wooden cross through the streets.
St. Peter’s Rev. Brandon Johns said the icy wind was “nothing compared to being nailed to the cross.”
“So, we walk in the footsteps of our Lord,” he said, “and in doing so, we share the good news with the community around.”
The Evans City cross walk brought over 30 people together from St. Peter’s, St. John’s United Church of Christ, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Crestview Community Church.
According to Crestview Pastor Gregg Hartung, the annual walk is made to honor Jesus Christ’s journey to and sacrifice on the cross this Easter.
“It’s about the community served by the churches and about coming together and walking that agonizing walk that Jesus walked on our behalf,” Hartung said. “And then sharing that love with the community.”
Johns began the walk with a prayer “for the journey of faith.”
“Let us forget not the cross and its benefits, the open arms you show to us on it, your loving embrace,” Johns said. “Allow us to be strengthened in faith that we might face all that is before us.”
And with that, a crew of six children lifted the cross to carry it to the next destination: Gospel Life Church. There, St. John’s Rev. Lisa Griffin offered a prayer “for people of other faiths.”
“We all believe just a little differently, but we believe that your spirit has led us,” Griffin said. “So we come together as a group of diverse people, and, yet, being unified in our faith.”
Again, the cross was taken up and carried to the Evans City magistrate’s office, where Hartung prayed for “civic leaders and governments.”
“Be with those that provide for the essential things in our community and also for the safety of our police and firemen,” Hartung said. “Be with them as we serve one another in serving the community of Evans City and our surrounding areas.”
Then, outside NexTier Bank, Hartung prayed for “those at work and those without work.”
“Help us to understand that there are people in our communities that are without employment, that are underemployed, that need our help in terms of making their daily meal on the table,” he said. “Help them to be in our minds and hearts as we walk this journey.”
The fourth stop was Westminster, where its Rev. Lauren Bosserman prayed “for the children of the world.”
“We thank you for the children of this world who may know you, who may not know you,” she said. “We thank you for people who care for them.”
Finally, the cross came to rest at St. John’s, where its Rev. Lisa Griffin prayed “for all who have not heard the message of the cross.”
“Today, we take a moment to pray for those who have not heard about Jesus Christ, who are growing up without any faith,” Griffin said. “And, in times that we are facing now with the uncertainty and violence around and just the daily difficulties that we face, we know the difference that our faith makes in our lives.”
Griffin then invited the mixed congregation into the warm church for service reflecting on the Seven Last Words of Christ.
Seven candles were lit and extinguished throughout the sermon, each representing one of the Seven Last Words of Christ.
Griffin said the growing darkness as the candles went out represented the “sense of loss” following Jesus’ sacrifice.
Resident Tara Weisgerber said she felt that sacrifice keenly.
“I was thinking during the service itself. I was reflecting on the fact that Mary lost her child, she lost her son, so often we do focus on Jesus and that sacrifice, but she also sacrificed,” Weisgerber said. “She raised him, and she gave birth to him, and to see your own child be tortured and in pain and suffer like that, it’s just unimaginable.”
Her own son, Andy, said carrying the cross to the church put that sacrifice in perspective for him as well.
“Just even, you know, carrying that and feeling the weight of that for just a block, and thinking about the way that Jesus cared on his climb up to the top of the mountain — that is super powerful and super meaningful,” Andy said. “And certainly it’s important.”
But, while Good Friday is a time of mourning and reflection, Hartung said that it came with a joyful promise.
“This is Good Friday, but we’re looking to Sunday as the hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Hartung said. “Even though we have loss, we have the hope of what happens on Sunday.”
